Tuppy Owens | |
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 Tuppy Owens in 1998 | |
| Born | Rosalind Mary Owens 12 November 1944 |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, therapist, campaigner |
| Years active | 1970–present |
Rosalind Mary Owens (born 12 November 1944), known as Tuppy Owens, is an English sex therapist, consultant, campaigner, writer and former adult model. [1] [2] [3]
Born in Cambridge, Owens gained a degree in zoology from Exeter University, and then worked in ecology in Africa and Trinidad. [1] She settled in London, and worked as a scientific administrator at the Natural Environment Research Council. [4] Then, in the late 1960s, she established a sex education book publishing company, for which she wrote and published The Sex Maniac's Diary [5] successfully between 1972 and 1995, and which she operated as a thriving business from her Mayfair flat [4] — for example, the 1975 Sex Maniac's Diary was launched in August 1974 with a reception at the Bristol Hotel in London which was reported on the following day in the Financial Times. [6]
From 1974, Owens also began lecturing on the subject of sex. [7] In 1975, she appeared in the Dutch pornographic film Sensations. [8] From 1984, the Sex Maniac's Diary was published as The Safer Sex Maniac's Diary and provided the first visual instructions to the public on how to put a condom on securely; it also reviewed condoms and offered safer sex advice, all at the beginning of the outbreak of HIV. [9]
In 1979, Owens started the Outsiders Club for socially and physically disabled people to find partners. She was helped by Nigel Verbeek, who had recently lost his sight. Both worked voluntarily, which Owens continues to do today. Outsiders is a club providing peer support to members, an online Clubhouse, and monthly lunches around the country.
In order to ensure that she answered the members' questions with accuracy, Owens trained as a sex therapist at St George's Hospital Medical School in London, where she gained a diploma in Human Sexuality in 1986. [2] She was also subsequently awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco. [2] In 2009, Owens was named one of the Family Planning Association's 80 most influential achievers in the field of family planning.
For disabled men and women who want to learn what pleasures their bodies are capable of enjoying, and how to please a partner, Owens set up the TLC Trust website, where they can find responsible, safe sexual services.
In 1981, Owens appeared in the English pornographic film Lady Victoria's Training, which was produced by Mike Freeman/Videx and featured Simon Lindsay Honey, who went on to work as a porn producer and actor under the pseudonym Ben Dover. [10] [3]
In the 1990s, after more than 30 years living in London, Owens moved to a croft in the north of Scotland. [11]
In 2005, Owens founded the Sexual Health and Disability Alliance (SHADA) [1] to bring together health professionals interested in sex and disability. In November 2009, a conference with the title "Disability: Sex, Relationships and Pleasure" was held by SHADA with the Royal Society of Medicine. [12] Owens produced the Sexual Respect Tool Kit, and started the sexual advocacy service, ASAP. She also answers the Sex and Disability Helpline. Her book "Supporting Disabled People with their Sexual Lives" was published by Jessica Kingsley on 19 November 2014.
Owens remains active in running Outsiders. [13] At the same time, she also advises the promoter of the Sexual Freedom Ball to fund Outsiders, and the organisers of the fundraiser, The Erotic Awards, [14] now called The Sexual Services and Entertainment Awards.
Owens is now the chair of the Sexual Freedom Coalition. [15] Back in the 90s Owens worked campaigning with Prostitution Pride, parades through London, which were funded by Arcadia events in North London.
Owens has been working with Designability (formerly the Bath Institute of Medical Engineering) in the hope that they will be able to create sex toys that can be used by disabled people who, without them, cannot masturbate. [16]
Owens will be the editor of a forthcoming website, The School of Sex for Disabled People, which is being created by sexually experienced disabled people and those who provide them with sexual services. She is currently writing her autobiography.
Owens has won the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award from the European Lifestyles Awards. She is also a Winner of the Innovation Award of Sexual Health and Human Rights UNESCO 2015. She was a finalist (Lifetime Achievement) in the Directory of Social Change Awards 2015. [17]
Asexuality is the lack of sexual attraction to others, or low or absent interest in or desire for sexual activity. It may be considered a sexual orientation or the lack thereof. It may also be categorized more widely, to include a broad spectrum of asexual sub-identities.
Nina de Vries is a Dutch sexual assistant who has lived and worked in Germany since 1990. She distinguishes between Sexual Assistance and Surrogate Partnership, terms which are commonly used interchangeably. Over the years her focus has shifted to the work with severely disabled people as well as the education and training of sexual assistants. In addition, she is responsible for elderly care facilities and facilities in which people with different kinds of impairments have found a new home.
Rockbitch was a British, mostly female, lesbian and bisexual metal band, who performed nude and incorporated sexual acts and Pagan rituals into their performances.
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The Masturbate-a-thon is an event in which participants masturbate to raise money for charity and increase the public awareness and dispel the shame and taboos that exist about this form of sexual activity. From 1998 to 2003, the Masturbate-a-thon raised around $25,000 for women's health initiatives and HIV prevention, education and treatment organizations, and has contributed to debates about safer sex and alternative safe methods of sexual expression. The event awards several honors for those who raise the most money as well as for multiple orgasms and endurance.
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Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is a sex education instruction method based on a curriculum that aims to give students the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and values to make appropriate and healthy choices in their sexual lives. The intention is that this understanding will help prevent students from contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as HIV and HPV, reduce unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, as well as lowering rates of domestic and sexual violence.
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Debby Herbenick is an American author, research scientist, sex educator, sex advice columnist, children's book author, blogger, television personality, professor, and human sexuality expert in the media. Herbenick is a professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health (IUSPH) and lead investigator of the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB), which Time called "the most comprehensive survey of its kind in nearly two decades."
Corbett O'Toole is a disability rights activist. She had polio as a child. She ran the Disabled Women's Coalition office with Lynn Witt in the 1970s. She worked as a staff member at the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley from 1973 to 1976, and as a staff member for the Disability Rights and Education Fund (DREDF) from 1980 to 1983.
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Sara Nasserzadeh is an Iranian-American social psychologist, public speaker and author. She is known mostly for her educational programs on BBC World Service and Persian TV on human sexuality and relationships. She received the BBC’s Innovation of the Year Award in 2007 and was among the BBC Persian 100 Influential Women. Nasserzadeh received the People of Distinction Humanitarian Award in New York City in 2014. She is also a winner of AASECT Book Award and AASECT Professional Standard of Excellence Award.
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Andrew Gurza is a Canadian disability awareness consultant and activist, based in Toronto, who focuses on the intersections of disability and sexuality.
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